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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §12.1.37.pr

Stipulations Conditioned on Present or Past Facts

Passage 1892 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The text states that a stipulation conditioned on a present or past fact is not suspended, but is immediately valid if the condition is true, even if the parties do not know it.

[PAPINIANUS libro primo definitionum. ] §12.1.37.prCum ad praesens tempus condicio confertur, stipulatio non suspenditur et, si condicio uera sit, stipulatio tenet, quamuis tenere contrahentes condicionem ignorent, ueluti 'si rex Parthorum uiuit, centum mihi dari spondes?' eadem sunt et cum in praeteritum condicio confertur.
[PAPINIANUS, from the first book of Definitions.] When a condition is referred to the present time, the stipulation is not suspended, and if the condition is true, the stipulation is valid, even though the contracting parties, being ignorant of the condition, do not know that it is valid; for example, "If the king of the Parthians is alive, do you promise that one hundred shall be given to me?" The same rules apply also when a condition is referred to the past.

Notes

  1. §12.1.37.prtenere contrahentes condicionem ignorent — tenere is an infinitive meaning '(that the stipulation) is valid', with the accusative subject stipulationem omitted, continuing from stipulatio tenet in the preceding clause. contrahentes is the subject of the main verb ignorent, and condicionem is the direct object of ignorent ('being ignorant of the condition'). Alternatively, condicionem can be taken as the subject of tenere ('that the condition holds/is fulfilled'), but either way, the overall sense remains that the parties do not know the contract is valid because they are unaware of the actual state of the condition.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §12.1.37.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:12.1.37.pr

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